Lethal Temptations (Tempted #5)(4)
Jimmy Gold.
The scrawny bastard covered in tattoos, wore a long fur coat, pairing it with perfectly tailored pants and a white wife beater tank top. He had a dozen or so chains dangling from his neck and when he smiled his top two front teeth matched those gold chains. He looked like a f*cking *.
It was hard to look him in the eye and not want to kill him on the spot, especially since we knew for a fact this prick killed Jack’s brother. Danny became a federal agent thirteen years ago and recently changed his name as he went to head the agency in a RICO case. Danny was sniffing around one of Jimmy’s bodies and threatened to take him down. The Golden Nutcase in front of me decided he wasn’t going to go down like that and murdered Danny.
That was partially why this motherf*cker was sitting in front of me, the other reason was he was working with the G-Man. Cain the former deceased president of the Satan’s Knight used to get his supply from the drug lord and forced the rest of us to deal it on the streets. It didn’t matter if you were a kid, pregnant or somebody’s innocent wife…we fed your habit and took your money.
Or in Christine’s case we drove you to your own death.
Not we.
Just me.
That shit was all on me.
And this, right now, this was my chance to make things right for her. I will take this motherf*cker down, and after I bury his ass we will end the G-Man once and for all. It doesn’t matter he’s rotting in a cell…when you want something badly enough, you find a f*cking a way. Prison bars won’t stand in the way of revenge.
A revenge so sweet and one that was all mine for the taking.
I’d start by playing this prick like the fool he is. This guy thinks he’s the f*cking boss but I’ll show him who the f*ck runs these streets.
“Victor tells me you’re familiar with the business, that you used to be one of the biggest players in the game,” he raved. “That makes me wonder why you would ever stop,” he questioned.
“Who said I did?” I bit out, leaning back in my chair as I pinned him with a glare.
The thing about guys like us, bikers, and mobsters—we’re all the same in one regard. We are all street thugs and you might be able to pull a man off the streets but you can’t take the streets from the soul of the man. That shit sticks with you until you die.
The same way being an addict does.
Jimmy didn’t need to know that since Christine’s death I’ve substituted one addiction for another, using alcohol to numb me—a last ditch effort to honor the woman I helped bring to her death. I thought if I swore off the drugs, kicked the heroin, I was honoring her in some way.
“Your boss wanted to keep his streets clean, made it real hard for us to do business, so I took my product elsewhere,” I said, drumming my nails against the table as my eyes locked with his. “Make no mistake about it Gold, I am the biggest player in the game. Always have been, always will be,” I assured him.
And that was true. I’d put my f*cking game face on and be the drug dealing degenerate I tried to bury, the worthless man who lost his wife because of his greed. The legend on the streets. I told myself I was doing the right thing, resurrecting the demon inside of me, because bringing down Jimmy and the G-Man would finally bring me closure on Christine. It would bring me peace to know the men who fed my palm the shit she overdosed on would finally pay.
“Confident,” he stated. “I like it, but as confident as you might be, I don’t trust you,” he added. “And I don’t do business with anyone I don’t trust.”
“Smart man,” I countered as I leaned closer to him. “Then why the f*ck you wasting my time?”
“Well,” he started, diverting his eyes to Reina as she placed a bottle of beer on the table, playing the role I quickly dumped on her. When we saw Jimmy and his goons prance through the parking lot on the surveillance feed, I told Jack’s woman to follow my lead. I didn’t trust this scumbag. He’d already f*cked with the president’s brother there was no telling what he’d do if he got wind that Jack had an old lady. I told Reina to get down on her knees and she followed my lead, aiding in making this fool think she was nothing but a whore, a piece of * we shared. A worthless cunt.
I turned my attention toward Reina. “Thank you, now go upstairs and take your f*cking clothes off. I’ll be right up,” I ordered, watching as she snarled before disappearing into the hallway and out of sight.
“As I was saying, my mind may be swayed if you provide me with an example of good faith,” Jimmy purred. “I’d like to think a man like you knows his product, enjoys it even, won’t you have a taste for me?”
“You want me to shoot it to prove what exactly?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“That you’re not selling me shit for one,” he said.
“I don’t know how you do business Gold, but usually you or one of your own test the product they are buying,” I informed.
“Of course that’s why I brought Carmine, but I’m not stupid Blackie, you are going to shoot the same sample you’re giving me. If it’s good for your own veins then it should be good for Carmine’s,” he sneered. “Those are my conditions, take them or leave them,” Jimmy added.
It’s been years since I’ve used heroin, f*cking years since I did any drug other than pot. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been tempted. Fuck, there’s been so many times I’ve filled a syringe and tied a rubber around my arm but it’s been five years since I’ve felt the prick of the needle. Five years since I felt the heroin swim in my veins and take control over me. I stopped myself every time because I saw her face. I remembered pulling her out of the bathtub and untying the rubber band from her arm. I could still feel the weight of her lifeless body in my arms.